Interwined Paths
by Randombabe
Summary: He had almost killed her. She remembered his pitch black eyes. He remembered her Wonder Woman suit. She was curious. He was enthralled. He was breathtaking and she was everything he wanted. This is their story. This is how they fell in love.ReidOC.
1. Chapter 1

"Te-heh…te-heh.'' "Shh"  
"Te-heh…te-heh"  
"Handrah, be quiet," a tall girl spoke out loud as she placed a finger to her face. Noticing her mistake, she giggled, making her curly brown hair bounce, cradling her plump round face.  
"Ku-kah…Ku-kah." 

A few seconds passed, deep silence enveloping the dark wooded area. The leaves on the shadowed trees rustled as the soft autumn breeze breathed a sigh upon them. Two girls dressed in black mirrored two others, all four hiding among the large tree trunks that surrounded them in opposite sides of the woods.

"Ku-kah, Ku-kah…I said, KU-KAH, KU-KAH!" bellowed one of the black clad girls, communicating across the vast expanse of space that stood between herself and the other girls. The blonde girl couldn't help but laugh as she took in what the other two looked like.

They had all agreed to dress inconspicuously, shadowed to blend in. Leah and Alice followed the plan, executing their best Rambo imitation; they were clothed from head to toe in black, their cheeks smeared with black and green camouflage paint. Reese too followed their example and showed up wearing dark clothes, going as far as wearing black gloves making herself part of the darkness that enveloped them all. When put together they looked like a depressed version of Charlie's Angels; bad-ass, armed and dangerous…right.

When they had met up earlier, they all had expected everything to go according to plan. By this point of their immensely lunatic plans, everything had fallen apart for some reason or others. When they resolved their attire was perfect, they couldn't help but pat each other on the back and give out brownie points to each other. That's how Handrah found them, high-fiving each other and laughing.

All three girls heard the door open and, upon seeing the fourth member of their Foursome-Awesome-Girlie Group, erased all the brownie points they had literally drawn on the chalk board they had once stolen from an overly chalk dependent teacher, whom accidentally had left the school after finding his board gone and in it's place voodoo chicken corpses hanging from his ceiling. He had said he found the study fascinating, and who were they to deny their professor the joy of seeing face to face the rather ghastly, if comical, skeletons of time-expired chickens? No one, of course.

Yes, they immediately erased the brownie points, for in front of their eyes stood Handrah. She was, in fact, not dressed in black, or brown, or green. She wasn't clad in any clothes that had any in conspicuity to them. Actually, she was dressed in the complete opposite manner. There, in front of their gaping faces, stood their 5'3, curly, wild-haired friend…dressed like Wonder Woman.

"…Don't even ask," Handrah said, before her friends even began to question her. "…okay, fine, I'll tell you…jeez! You don't have to bite my head off. I had to baby-sit THEM, and one thing led to another, and here I am."

Her friends gasped and hurried to her side to make soft, clucking motherly noises to appease her ill-treated spirit.

Leah and Alice spoke at the same time, pulling another of what Handrah and Reese called their weird twin juju, "Not them! You poor, poor thing."

"I know, I know," Handrah answered. She turned and walked outside, forcing her friends to follow. "I had to baby-sit the brats again. I swear to you ,they're not human. They're little daemon children that the devil himself couldn't stand, so he spat them out and sent them after me. I'm telling you, this is karma for you guys forcing me to eat those cookies the old lady made for her dog. Yes," she said, wide-eyed as she nodded vigorously, "the dog knows."

All four burst out laughing at the dramatic antic of their beloved, crazy friend. They followed her to the Eighteen-Wheeler cab front that Handrah's parents had bought for her after much begging and even more fake tears. It was her sixteenth birthday gift and acted as her car. It also had a name: Brutus.

Brutus was purple, huge, and slightly on the car-homosexual side. It had flowers painted on it. They were falling alongside shooting stars, a robot, and peace signs. Handrah was what would many would kindly call special. Her friends weren't kind; they knew she wasn't special, crazy was more like it!

"Let's forget about that. We're armed and dangerous. Let's go get those boys!" Handrah sing-sang, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes.

They climbed in and drove to their current location. They were in the middle of what was called a water-balloon war. They had begun it and they were going to end it. Their master plan was to invade the boy's fort in hope of catching them unaware and force their surrender. At the moment, however, the 'Ku-kah, Ku-kah' had given them away.

"Battle cry, battle cry!" screamed Handrah in what they decided was their battle cry. Seeing as none of them could actually make a battle cry, this was the best they could do.

They boys were running away from a party that was being raided by cops…whom they had called. All four ran towards them in a frenzied effort to drench them in water. Ryan, Matt, and Michael ran for cover in hopes of salvaging themselves.

"This is not fair and you know it!" cried Ryan, Leah and Alice's older brother. "We have to get out of here or the cops will catch us all."

"Surrender then, if it's that important to you," Reese called out of the darkness.

"Never!" all three yelled out, looking about them, searching for their attackers.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Then I guess we'll just have to force you to, won't we?" Handrah said, forcing them to turn around. Even in her shocking costume she was still quiet.

"What the hell? What are you wearing?" Matt asked, grinning form ear to ear.

"Battle cry, battle cry!" Handrah echoed as she and her joining comrades bombarded them with water filled balloons.

"Ok, ok, we surrender!" cried Ryan.

"No we don't," Matt and Michael screamed.

"Yes we do…for now. If we don't get out of here the cops will catch us!" Ryan said, grabbing the other two boys, beginning to run away laughing.

Left there congratulating each other, the girls roared with gleeful laughter. Finally making their way to Handrah's auto mobile, they caught the sound of cop cars coming their way. Alice, Leah, and Reese scrambled in, but Handrah turned around and ran back. They all looked to see what she was doing and found her picking up Ryan's I.D.

She stood up and held it up in the air triumphantly causing cheers and impressed applause to erupt from her friends. As she turned to run back she was blinded by flashing head-lights. She froze and in almost lethargic slow motion, all she could hear were the screams from her friends and all she could see was the face of the pale faced driver that threatened to end her life.

Please review and tell me what you think. An author always appreciates criticism, even if at times it is not what one hopes for. Thank you.


	2. Chapter 2

_'I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die. Fudge, fudge…'_ "FUDGEEE!" Handrah screamed as a monster of a Hummer sped towards her. 

All she saw before she landed on a tree trunk were the pitch black eyes of a blond-haired boy she had seen time and time again. She had caught the look of shocked surprise on his face and had seen the mouths of the three passengers move, crying out deaf warnings. Handrah had felt the rushing wind as she flew across the air. She could recall everything that had happened before she felt searing pain invade her head and ribs; she could detail the silenced movement of her friends as they rushed towards her. She could describe the rushing sound in her head and the beat of her heart; time didn't seem to touch her. She had never felt so alive as in those moments before darkness claimed her.

* * *

Handrah woke, fighting through a fog to get her reluctant eyes open. Her mouth tasted metallic as she swallowed, trying to look around simultaneously. Like a shock wave, Handrah felt blinding pain shoot from the bottom of her neck towards her cranium. As she rapidly snapped her body to her previous position, her midsection exploded with pain causing her to cry out as her sight darkened.

She bit her lip as she settled once again against the raised pillows on what she now recognized as a hospital bed. As she rested she felt her abdomen relax, leaving her with only a constant sore ache she could almost ignore. Her neck, now nestled on the propped pillows, throbbed but didn't cause her much discomfort as long as she maintained herself completely still.

Using her arms to slowly raise herself up, Handrah found a comfortable position that allowed her to gaze around the room without much discomfort. To her right, behind the IV machine, various screens showed her pulse and beeped alongside her heartbeat. Further away, against the wall, Leah lay sound asleep on top of a green couch. Her blonde hair looked brilliant against the couch's fabric; she looked our of place in contrast to the depressing white backdrop of the hospital wall. Next to the couch, a matching loveseat contained what Handrah recognized as Reese's jacket.

To her left the bathroom door stood open, revealing a standard hospital bathroom. Everything was white except for the green hand towel Handrah spotted next to the sink. She realized then why it had been so hard to open her eyes, her contacts were still in place and had left her eyes dry and no doubt, she though, extremely red. Blinking several times to moisten them, she gazed forward. The door to her room was closed, obstructing her view of what lay outside of it, but a large window with open blinds allowed her to see Reese and Alice sitting outside her room, sipping coffee as they whispered silently with worried looks on their faces.

As she looked at them, Reese motioned towards the room midway through her monologue. At that moment, however, she caught Handrah's eyes and jumped up in surprise. She cried out Alice and both rushed into the room, tears running down Reese's face and gathering in Alice's eyes. As they barged in, they awoke Leah, who stumbled towards her bed as well.

"Oh my God, Handrah. Are you alright? How do you feel? Do you need a doctor? What can we do?" Reese sputtered, as she stopped herself from throwing her arms around her injured friend.

Handrah began to laugh but upon discovering it only sent more pain carousing through her body, she decided to simply answer, "I'm fine. Okay, well, I'm hurting, but I'll be alright. God, what happened? The last thing I remember is you guys rushing towards me before blacking out. Did I get ran over?"

Alice and Leah looked at each other, deciding which one should answer. Alice took the initiative and said, "You didn't get ran over. How you got out of the way so fast, we don't know. All we saw was Tyler's Hummer coming towards you and then all of the sudden you were just gone. They sped right past us and the next thing we knew, you were sprawled next to a tree. We ran to you, but by the time we got there you were knocked out"  
"Wait, first, who the heck is Tyler? Second, how do you know that was his truck? If you're talking about that quiet kid that hangs around with the 'Sons of Ipswich,''' Handrah said, making quotation marks with her fingers as she mentioned the group, "then I think you're wrong. He wasn't the one that was driving. The blond guy was behind the wheel."

"No, I know for a fact that the Hummer belongs to Tyler. He probably let that guy drive it, but that's his. My parents told me that he had gotten it for his birthday. From what I hear he's a really nice guy, I bet you the only reason why he didn't stop was because they had the police on their tails," Leah said.

"Mm hmm, I'm sure that getting man slaughter charges had nothing to do with it," Handrah said with a smirk.

Looking agitated, Leah was about to respond. Handrah, however, said, "Don't get you panties in a bundle, I'm just playing. I know he's like one of those sunshine twins on uppers. From what I hear he's a really nice guy. I'm still telling you, though, he wasn't driving. Anyway, what happened to me after you guys found me? Did you try to contact my parents?"

Reese looked at her, still crying, and said, "Yeah, they came and left to go get you a change of clothes. The doctors said that you have a concussion and some bruised ribs. He said you hit the tree with major impact, but we can't figure out why. Handrah, by all means you should be dead by now."

"Please, I'm a warrior. Battle cry, battle cry," Handrah said, causing her friends to erupt in a fit of giggles. After they quieted Handrah continued, "Anywhoodles, I don't blame the boy-band for not stopping. You guys do know that they were speeding because of us, right? I mean, we were the ones that called the cops. Darn my honor, I will never turn them in. Darn my honor to heck!"

"Quit playing, Handrah. We told the cops that we didn't know who the guys were, because we knew what you would say. You could have really been hurt, though," Reese said, tear running down her cheeks again.

Handrah extended her bruised arms towards her friend and hugged her as tightly as she could. "I'm the hulk, Reese. I'm big and green, hear me roar! I'll always be here."

Reese smiled then stared Handrah, "I just don't know what I, what we, would do with out you."

Alice, standing in the background, began sobbing causing Leah to cry. Reese looked at their sad faces and cried as well. Handrah felt the strings of her heart being pulled and as their crying fest continued, tears slipped down her face as well. The three uninjured girls stared at Handrah in amazement. They knew that Handrah didn't cry and to even see a couple of tears from her was like an extended miracle.

Handrah looked at them and shrugged. She smiled at their faces and then started giggling. They all started laughing for no reason at all. That's how her parents found them, crying and laughing for no reason.

* * *

Later that night, alone in the lonely hospital room, Handrah couldn't sleep. Her parents had come and gone and after much persuasion, she had convinced the girls to come back tomorrow after a goodnight sleep. She sat on her bed staring at the television her parents had gotten put in her room. The lady with the sprayed on hair permanently attached to her face rambled on about an obese pig winning some sort of prize.

Handrah couldn't go to sleep. Images from the previous night kept rushing through her mind, making sleep seem impossible. She pondered and thought until she wanted to yell at herself. She knew that she had seen the blond guy's eyes go completely black. She hadn't said anything to anyone about it, but she knew that it wasn't just her imagination. She knew that she hadn't jumped, but she also knew that she had been knocked out of the way by something.

She couldn't get him out her head. She couldn't get his face or his eyes to go away. Lost in her thoughts, she only noticed someone coming in her room as the door closed with a silent 'click.' She was startled as she gazed into the face of the blond haired boy whom had almost taken her life. His eyes weren't black, but they were still a brilliant shade of green. They were intense, almost ravishingly angry, perhaps scared. He looked nervous and slightly disheveled. Even in her injured state she couldn't help but think he looked beautiful.

"Hi," he said raising his hand and slightly waving his fingers.

"Hi.''


	3. Chapter 3

This chapter is told from Reid's point-of-view.

* * *

He couldn't get her out of his head. Last night kept repeating over and over in his mind. She haunted his thoughts until he couldn't do anything at all but sit and replays those few moments before he almost took her life. He remembered the noise in the car as the guys yelled, finally noticing her. They had tried to warn him, but it had been too late. The brakes would have never caught.

She was beautiful. She was dressed as Wonder Woman. Her hair consisted of breathtakingly wild curls. It went down to the middle of her back and was brunette, red and an almost blond shining in it as the head lights illuminated her. She was around 5'3, possibly a little taller and slim. Her lips were full and red, her skin was dark; he knew she was of Mexican descent. Her eyes were big and brown, they were darker than any eyes he had ever seen. He knew her, she had caught his eye from the moment he had seen her.

It was then, as he threatened to kill her, that he couldn't stop himself. His eyes turned pitch black as The Power surged through his body. He willed her with all of his force out of the way. He didn't know where she landed, but he knew that she was in a better position then if he had done nothing at all.

They had kept going and escaped the cops, fooling them and returned to campus. Tyler had dropped him off at the dorms and after a brief encounter with Sarah, he had gone to bed. He couldn't get her out his head. He couldn't sleep. She was there; he could almost touch her, but she was out of reach.

After worrying all day about her well being and punishing himself by his continuous thoughts of her, he finally decided to go and see her. He didn't care if she didn't want to see him. He could understand that, but as long as he knew she was alright, it would be worth it.

He threw on a coat over his disheveled clothes and drove to the hospital. After flirtingly being a gentleman with an older nurse at the front table, he had gained permission to visit her. He nervously tucked at his sleeves as he made his way to her room. He caught sight of her through her window. She sat staring forward, although he could tell she wasn't really concentrating on the television that cast light on her features. He opened the door before he could back out and stepped in. Her head snapped in his direction and the light caught her eyes. His breathing stopped; her eyes shined brilliantly…he couldn't look away.

"Hi,'' he said, slightly waving at her.

"Hi."

"I'm sorry," Reid said stepping forward.

Handrah stared at him and grabbed the remote control that lay by her side. She hit the Power button and turned off the T.V.

"What the heck are you talking about, tall blond one?" Handrah questioned as she continued to gaze at him.

He couldn't help but smile at what she said. He looked down grinning and then back up. His smile disappearing he continued, "I don't know if you know this, but I was the one that almost ran you over and I'm sorry. I wouldn't have been able to stop the car in time and then now you're hurt and I'm sorry. I mean, I would have tried to stop but I couldn't and you were there. I didn't know what to do and then you, in the Wonder Woman suit, and I'm rambling, aren't I?"

Handrah nodded, her eyes slightly wide with confusion. She motioned with her hand for him to come forward. She made room for him on the bed next to her for him to sit down. She wheezed and pain crossed her face. She quickly blinked and said, "Come and sit down. Look, no harm done. I'll be alright. I'm the hulk, don't worry about it. I have magic Voodoo powers that leave me completely unscathed."

Gazing at her uncertainly Reid moved forward and sat down. "Liar,'' he said before he could stop himself.

"What?" Handrah said narrowing her eyes.

'Shit!' "I mean, what I mean to say…well, you're lying. Look at you, you're bruised all over. Shit, I'm so sorry. You look so frail and I didn't mean to do it. Please, look, I'll pay for the hospital bill and everything. Umm, umm…'' he couldn't find anything else to say as he felt his face get hot.

"Hot dogs?" Handrah said smiling.

"What?" He said looking slightly confused.

Shrugging she responded, "That's just what I say when I can find nothing else better to say. Umm, umm, hot dogs? It's just what I do. I know I'm weird, don't look so scared. Anyway, I'm not frail. I'm the hulk. Hell, I'm Iron Man, there you go. I'm Iron Man. Don't worry about it. It was partly my fault. I shouldn't have been in the way. It just sort of happened."

"I'm not scared," Reid answered defensively. He couldn't help it. It was in his nature to defend himself when he felt threatened or intimidated. At the moment the latter was the case. He hadn't expected her to even want to see him. He hadn't expected hot dogs or Iron Man. She looked frail and beautiful even if bruised but behind her eyes he could see how stubbornly strong she could be.

"Chill, blond one. I'm just playing," Handrah said with a smile.

"My name is Reid Garwin," Reid said extending his hand.

"My name is Llama, Handrah Llama. It's spelled like llama, but pronounced with a Y, I find that amusing and I thought you should know."

"That's beautiful," Reid said smiling. "Handrah, I like it."

"I know, it just comes natural to me," Handrah said smiling.

"Aha, I'm sure it does," Reid said grinning.

"Yes, I like jousting, long walks on the beach, and ducks," Handrah said with a serious face.

"Hmm, jousting, you say. Never met a girl that like jousting before," Reid said, looking at Handrah's now smiling face.

"That's because there isn't anyone like me out there. You don't know this yet, but I'm going to change your life," Handrah said staring into his eyes.

Reid laughed, "Are you now?"

"Yes,'' Handrah answered nodding.

"Well, my life is here for the changing," Reid said looking at her as she cocked her head to the side and smiled at him.

"So what do you like, Mr. Garwin?" Handrah asked.

"Well, I like stuffed penguins, archaic movies, and Wonder Woman…"


	4. Chapter 4

This goes back to Handrah's point-of-view.

* * *

Handrah sat staring at Reid Garwin's smiling face. His eyes were guarded, calculating. His blond hair messily sprawled across his face, a strand catching on his lips. His arms were crossed, a defensive stance, but as he let a breath, he uncrossed them and his shoulders relaxed. She had never expected him to come, but was not sorry to have him there.

She leaned forward and released the hair that was caught on his lips. "Sorry, that was bugging me," she said. "So, Wonder Woman, you say? Yes, I know, she's pretty coolio. I like her bracelets, but I'm not so crazy about her hair. I'm not so crazy about her body, either.''

Raising an eyebrow, Reid asked, "What's wrong with her body?"

"Well, have you seen the woman? I swear, her waist is the size of a toothpick. I mean seriously, I'm afraid that if a wind blows too hard she'll just freaking fall on her side or something." After relating this, Handrah began to laugh. Upon seeing Reid's inquisitive expression she explained, "I mean, it's funny. Just think about it, she's flying off to save the day and a gust of wind blows and she falls and crashes into a plane or something. She would be all like 'Woo-oo!'''

"Aha, so if you're not an infatuated fan of hers, why in the world were you wearing that suit last night?" Reid asked, looking into Handrah's eyes.

"It's a long story," Handrah said, looking down at her hands.

"I've got all night," Reid responded crossing his arms at her raised eyebrow.

"Hmm, fine, but you can't make fun of me. I baby-sit a set of six-year-old twins. They've got the basics, big eyes, dimples, the works. Well, they look angelic, but they're not. They're daemon children. They prey on the weak and kind-hearted such as Muah," Handrah said, placing a hand across her heart.

"So, did they attack you, tie you down, and dress you like her?" Reid asked looking incredulous.

"I wish. No, the little brats are subtle. They peel their big blue eyes and smile, then they beg and do the fake tear act. I keep telling them I'm immune. I mean, come on, I basically came up with that act, but then they get other people involved. Next thing you know I'm being bombarded with the, 'How can you not just do this for them?' or the ever popular, 'Look at them, those little angels, how can you say no?''' Handrah nodded taking a breath. "So, they made me feel bad in front of the new chef and then I was a goner. By that time they had me dressed up, watching Barney, and eating brownies. All in all, it wasn't that bad of a deal. Well, except for the Barney bit, but that's another story.''

"What do you have against Barney?" Reid asked smirking.

"Nothing really, well, as long as you count being traumatized by a big-purple dinosaur taking his head off at the tender age of five nothing," Handrah nodded, giving him a wide-eyed look. "Yes, Barney was my hero until I found out a big black man was not in fact devoured by Barney, but turned out to be him. Very sad, very sad indeed."

"Riiigh… so what else are you into?" Reid asked.

"What's up with all of the questions, is this an interrogation or something? Why don't you tell me something about yourself. Like, why you are sitting here with me in the middle of the night, asking me about Barney? An answer for an answer. It's only fair," Handrah said, raising her hands up and shrugging.

Reid stopped playing with his sleeves and stared at his hands, "I felt bad…feel bad. It was irresponsible of me to hurt you and I just wanted the chance to apologize. It's hard for me to admit that I'm wrong, but I will admit it when it's true. I shouldn't have done what I did last night and I just want you to understand that if I could take back my actions then I would.''

"Aren't you supposed to be a bad-ass or something?" Handrah asked, cutting his apology and causing him to snap his head up and look at her.

"What?" Reid asked looking confused.

"Well, from what I hear you don't say sorry, even when you are wrong. I'm not trying to be a smart ass, but I'm curious. Tell me, why exactly did you come here, to see someone that you have never even met before that you're sorry for something that you never even did?" Handrah questioned meeting his level gaze.

"What are you talking about? You hit that tree and now you're hurt. I think that it is definitely my responsibility. Besides, I do know about you. Not everything, but still and…"

"How did you know I hit a tree?" Handrah asked cutting him off.

"What?"

"Wait, you know about me? You talk about me then?"

Reid felt his face get warm and looking away he responded, "Umm, well, no...maybe, hot dogs?'' He laughed but at seeing her unsmiling face continued, "I mean, I've been told who you are. I mean, from what I hear you're the reason as to why Mr. Bettingfield practically ran away from school. Didn't you and your friends traumatize him with Voodoo bones or something?"

"Chicken corpses, actually. You still haven't answered my question though. How did you know that I hit a tree. Only my friends and I know that. Actually, none of us know exactly how it is that I landed there. Why would you take responsibly over something that you didn't do?"

"Umm, umm, hot dogs?" Reid said smiling cheekily.

"Garwin…'' Handrah responded.

"My name is Reid, I told you. Besides, what else could you have hit. There were trees everywhere. It was just a lucky guess.''

"You are a horrible liar, but I'm willing to let it go for now. God, I'm hungry. I want some coffee, yes. Wait, no, I can't. Darn it, darn it to heck," Handrah said looking disappointed.

"You are extremely random, aren't you? Anyway, if you want I could go get you some coffee, or tea, or something," Reid said standing up.

"Sit down. I can't have coffee; I'm a recovering addict. My friends forced me to stop drinking it when they saw that I would run past old people to beat them in line at Starbucks…it wasn't pretty. Anywhoodles, tea is gross you freakin' sicko," Handrah said.

Reid laughed and put his hand in his pocket. He felt something and pulled it out. "Well, I have some M&Ms if you want them," he said handing them to her.

"Hmm, to eat fatty delicious chocolate or not to eat? Definitely eat," Handrah said snatching the bag from him.

Handrah popped one into her mouth and smiled. "I've decided that you and I are going to be friends," Handrah said with a blissfully satisfied look on her face.

"Have you now?''

"Yes, but you must know there comes a lot of responsibilities with that job. I'm weird, crazy, random, and at times depressing," shrugging she continued, "I'm just warning you. It's true, but you seem like a pretty coolio guy, I'm sure you can handle it. I mean, come on, you carry M&Ms in your pocket.''

Popping another M&M in her mouth, the bag slipped from her hand and shot to the ground. Before he could stop himself, out of pure instinct, Reid felt The Power rush to his fingertips as he stopped the bag from falling mid-air. He brought it back onto the bed and looked at Handrah. Her eyes were wide as she stared at him. She began to speak, but the M&M caught in her throat, choking her. Her eyes filled with tears and she went into a cough fit. As he tried to move to her, Handrah waved him away.

"Your eyes…" Handrah said with her mouth slightly open, trying to pump more oxygen into her lungs..

"Handrah," Reid said stepping forward.

"I knew I saw them turn black. No, don't look so worried. Sit down, come on, sit. I won't say anything, I promise. If you can trust anything, you can trust that," Handrah said attempting to ease him.

"Look, umm, umm, I'm… I should go," Reid said beginning to turn around.

Handrah caught his hand and looked him in the eyes. "I didn't say anything. Don't shut me out without giving me a chance. I can keep a secret; I don't judge. Who am I to say anything when I'm sitting here choking on M&Ms. What I was going to say is your eyes…they're beautiful."

Reid looked at her hand in his and sat down. He took his hand back, crossed his arms, and put one of his fingers to his mouth. He stared at her and finally said, "I'm Reid Garwin, people think I'm a bad ass; I'm not, or at least not all the time. I'm a warlock and I'm choosing to trust you, M&M incidents and all."


	5. Chapter 5

This is in Reid's point-of-view.

* * *

Handrah sat in front of him full of wide eyes and barely contained excitement. Her wild hair bounced as she jumped up and down slightly. She clasped her hands in front of her like an expectant child and smiled. Her red lips stretched across her face making her cheekbones more pronounced, revealing tiny dimples at the sides of her mouth. This was supposed to be serious; he was supposed to think clearly. Yet as he stared at her, he couldn't help but continuously smile at her cuteness.

"You have dimples," Reid said. He was supposed to be revealing to her his most deeply held secret. He wanted to tell her. Just looking at her, though, made thinking a little bit harder and openly smiling just a little bit easier.

"I don't think they are considered dimples. They're more like indentions on my morbidly obese face. Mm hmm, yeah, they're face cellulite on my fatso cheeks," Handrah said nodding as if to reassure him she was telling the truth.

"Aha, liar. You're face is tiny, very cute, but tiny," Reid said cocking his head to the side.

Handrah opened her mouth to speak but as her words were about to leave her mouth, a 'trotting' noise being to be emitted by the television. Handrah looked on the small nightstand to her left and grabbed her cell phone. She stared at it with narrowed eyes and as she threw it across the room she yelled, "Karate chop!"

Reid looked at her in a very perplexed manner and forced her to explain, "It's evil, okay! Don't judge me. That stupid phone always picks up the signal from T.V. or from the radio and it drives me insane. I throw it and I flippin' throw it, but the fudging thing just won't break. I swear to you, it enjoys making my like miserable. It mocks me inside that little computer chip brain of his."

"Have you ever gotten a cat-scan?" Reid asked laughing as he watched Handrah wave her fist threateningly at her phone.

"On several occasions," Handrah said.

"Seriously?"

"Duh.'' Handrah began laughing and said, "I'm just playing freaky-albino-like one. I just have issues with my phone. If you had had to deal with it for as long as I have, you would have gone off your rocker a long time ago. I'm just special and can maintain my cool under very stressful circumstances. You know, being Iron Man and all, I have to be awesome-o as I roll to the rescue."

"Roll to the rescue?" Reid asked laughing with her.

"Yes, you know, considering my obese face and all. Anyway, quit stalling. People are always very open and willing to spill their guts out to me, but it's very seldom when I actually wish to hear their life burdens. You, though…you have me intrigued."

"It's my boyish good looks and my angel-like demeanor," Reid said winking at her.

"Puh-lease! Angel demeanor by ass! I may not know you Reid Garwin but even so, I can assure you that I'm not imbecile enough to believe that. Now, pretty please, tell me what this…this power is? Why do your eyes turn black?"

Regarding Handrah with a straight face and looking into her eyes, Reid began, "That's exactly what it is. It's called The Power. It's similar to a life-source that allows us to do things ordinary people couldn't even imagine doing. It's nothing to be proud of.'' He got up and began pacing around the room. "It's dangerous, more dangerous than anything you can imagine. It's addictive and can destroy the person who uses it." Gesturing with his hands he said, "I got it from my father, who got it from his father before him, so on and so forth. We can date back our history hundreds of years. It has literally and utterly destroyed many before me. You see, my friends think that I'm becoming consistently addicted, but I'm not. I would never, ever do that. Caleb, Pogue, and Tyler don't think so. It's infuriating."

As he paused, running his hands through his hair, Handrah said, "Come here. Don't get agitated. I'm sitting here listening to you, not just hearing what you have to say. There's a big difference, please recognize it."

Looking at her, Reid moved again to sit beside her, "I…I just want them to understand that I understand, you know? They look at me and think I'm a rash moron who uses his powers twenty-four/seven. It's not true. I would never do that. I mean, yeah, I shove it in Caleb's face to get him angry, but I would never commit the same mistakes as those before me. I hate messing up and if I can help it, I will always find an alternative.''

Handrah stared at him, her head cocked to her side, "Reid, why are you telling me this? I may not have secret powers to hide-aside from my everybody-knows-about-them Voodoo powers. Just kidding, anyway, why are you letting me know this. I'm not stupid. I know that if I were you, I wouldn't trust a random stranger with something of this massive importance."

She was right. He hadn't planned on spilling his guts to her. Actually, his plan had been to come, reassure himself she was alright, and leave. Watching her tell him it was okay to tell her what was wrong with him, though, made him want to tell her. He had literally prayed to God to send him someone, anyone to help him carry his secret. He was sure most people would find having his powers incredibly exhilarating, he had so too. After living in secrecy for the past seventeen years, though, after having to control his anger and his happiness every single day, after having to hold back every single emotion he was capable of, he knew that what he wanted most in the world was to tell someone. He wanted to be reassured he was okay. He wanted to know that it didn't matter that he could do all of these things. He wanted to know that someone would see him, even if just for a little bit, as normal.

She, she wasn't judging him. She wasn't recoiling in horror or looking for a way to exploit him, that he could see in her eyes. Being able to trust her with this, believing she wasn't going to push him away made her more irresistible than anyone he had ever met. "Maybe I just needed to tell someone.''

"Hah, I told you you're a terrible liar. If you wanted to tell someone you could have picked someone off the street. You know what, I won't pursue it. I'm flattered that you would consider me trustworthy enough to tell me"  
"You can't tell anyone, though," Reid said, the idea suddenly popping in his mind.

"Don't offend me, freaky-albino. I would never betray a friend," Handrah said waving away his remark.

"Friend? I'm your friend?" Reid asked smiling.

"If you want to be. You can tell me whatever you want, just please don't expect me to return the favor…yet. I have some secrets of my own. You'll understand if you get to know me. I'm not trying to run you off, but like I said, you should know. Anyway, I think you have told me enough tonight. I understand that there's a lot more to this than what you have said, but I think you should take your time and decide if you truly want to trust me," Handrah said.

"I already decided," Reid said with set eyes.

"Don't be rash. Think it over, that's all I'm saying," Handrah said.  
"I don't need to think anything over. I told you, I already decided. If you need to know something about me, it's that once I make up my mind up about something, it's final."

"Te-heh. We'll see about that," Handrah said smirking cheekily.

"Is that a challenge?"

"Maybe it is," Handrah said.

They stared at each other in silence until Handrah's phone started making odd noises again. She looked at her phone and glared at it with malice, "Eat dirt and die!"

Reid started laughing and Handrah joined him. Suddenly stopping, Handrah looked at him and asked, "Do you want to play twenty-one questions?"

"It's getting late. Maybe I should go," Reid said. After having done so, he looked into her eyes and was taken aback by a strange determination he had not expected.

"Are you scared?"

"Handrah, it's one in the morning," Reid answered.

"Chicken noises," Handrah said flapping her arms like a chicken.

"Chicken noises?" Reid asked with a raised eyebrow.

Shrugging, Handrah answered, "I can't make the actual chicken noises, so this is as good as it gets. So, are you on?"

Laughing, Reid answered, "Damn straight. You're full of surprises, aren't you?"

"Always and forever, babe, always and forever."


End file.
